Lehigh University seeks a creative, entrepreneurial, and innovative leader to serve as its inaugural Executive Director of Libraries. Because Lehigh has two remarkable and distinctive central libraries on its main campus, located in Bethlehem, PA, the Executive Director will be able simultaneously to explore the leading edge of knowledge management and to preserve the most beloved features of the traditional library experience. The Executive Director will be asked to continue the work of evolving the modern, science, and technology-focused E. W. Fairchild-Martindale Library into a state-of-the-art knowledge commons while also overseeing the recently restored Victorian-era Linderman Library, named by Architectural Digest in 2015 as “one of the 15 most stunning university libraries in the world.”

With a total staff of 39 and a budget of $7.34 million, the Executive Director will build upon the libraries’ long history of innovation as part of a merged library and technology services organization. A founding partner in The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Open Library Environment (OLE), in 2014 Lehigh became the first university in the nation to implement the open-source, community-based library management system. Lehigh is currently working on The Future of Libraries is Open (FOLIO) initiative, an open source library ecosystem.

This new leadership opportunity comes at a time of unprecedented growth and momentum for Lehigh. Since 2016, the University has been engaged in an ambitious expansion plan which will bring 1,000 new undergraduate students, 500-800 new graduate students, and 100 new faculty to Lehigh over the next seven years, along with the addition of a new college of health. New and renewed construction on the University Center, residence halls, and a science and research building are a few of the capital improvements included in the plan, called the Path to Prominence. The energy surrounding this University-wide effort will help to catalyze the Executive Director’s efforts to lead Lehigh’s libraries into the future with bold imagination and clear vision.

The inaugural Executive Director will be an experienced, entrepreneurial leader who is deeply engaged in national and global conversations about the rapidly changing future of academic libraries. The Executive Director should hold an advanced degree in a relevant field, which may include an MLS, MIS, Ph.D., or other degree.

For best consideration, please send nominations, applications, and queries in confidence and electronically before May 31 to:

Lehigh University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, disability, gender, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status.